


Run To Me Tonight

by IKnowWhoOppenheimerIs



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Allison Lives, Depression, Eating Disorders, I'm also bad at tags, Kate stays dead, M/M, Please let me know if I missed a trigger, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Tags will be updated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-09-14 01:48:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9151534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IKnowWhoOppenheimerIs/pseuds/IKnowWhoOppenheimerIs
Summary: "I can make you faster. And stronger. But like you said, you're not going to be fast enough to outrun most creatures. You..." He took a deep breath, hesitating for fear of offending Stiles. "You won't be strong enough to fight off a Nogitsune."Stiles glared, eyes challenging the wolf the way Derek's words challenged him. "I'm not stupid, Derek. I'm not trying to be supernatural. I'm just trying to be... Better."After everything with the Nogitsune, Stiles feels weak and scared, especially when all of his friends are supernatural. When he asks Derek for help, they both end up finding more than a work-out partner.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from 'Middle Distance Runner', by Sea Wolf.

Stiles noticed it after a full moon. The pack had been running around the Preserve for hours, acting like the children they all were, wrestling and howling. Sometimes Stiles felt deprived that he wasn't a part of that; it seemed like the time the wolves bonded the most. But then he'd just look over at Lydia slicing onions for breakfast burritos in the early glow of the morning, and he was too warm to feel anything else.

And so it went, just like every other full moon. The pack came in to ravage the table of food in a matter of minutes, and then, one by one, they either found a place to fall asleep in the Hale house, or they went to their own homes. Stiles always did the latter. He couldn't sleep in that place, where everything smelt, and looked, and _felt_ like Derek. He was usually one of the first to leave.

That particular morning, he had gotten caught up in a chat with Isaac about a Skyrim quest he was stuck on, and by the time they looked up, everyone else had gone. Which wasn't a big deal, Stiles could just leave then. And he did. But before he pulled Roscoe out of the preserve, he saw Derek, out on the paths again. This time, he was in running gear, instead of his wolf form, and had headphones in. He knew the man was obsessed with his abs, but Stiles didn't really understand how anyone could be so fitness savvy that they ran after a full night of werewolf antics.

  


* * *

  


He asked, of course. Stiles was too curious to ever keep any questions bottled up. But he pondered it all day first, tried to figure it out on his own. But he only came up with more questions.

"Derek?" He started, while the pack was watching a movie that night. The wolf had one of his legs resting over Stiles, which was driving him up the wall, but he was trying his best to ignore the sparks where their skin was touching. "Why do you work out so much? I mean-"

"Shh!" Erica hissed, reaching back to bat at Stiles' ankle. He dropped to a whisper.

"I mean, wolves are naturally fast and strong. Does it actually make you any faster or stronger to practice?"

Derek answered with a question of his own, because that's the sort of cryptic Sourwolf he always was. "Why does Scott work out? He's fast and strong; he's a true Alpha. Why would he need to work out?"

Stiles hadn't considered his best friend in his considerations, but it didn't take him very long to come up with an answer. "He's the lacrosse captain. He has to keep up appearances, work out with the team."

Derek only smirked, nodding a little before remarking, "and did you look at him over Christmas break? When he wasn't working out very much, and he was eating more?"

The Alpha in question turned and fixed his pack brother with a glare. "I can hear you. Rude."

Derek rolled his eyes and grabbed Stiles' arm, getting up and pulling him into the kitchen. He didn't feel too terrible; the human clearly wasn't paying any attention to the movie. "It is possible for a wolf to get out of shape. And yes, it does help to train. Just because we're naturally good at something doesn't mean we can't get better." He explained, crossing his arms and shrugging. "If they didn't work out for sports, I'd make them go with me. Why are you so concerned with my regime all of a sudden?"

And, well, that was a good question. One Stiles wasn't sure how to answer, other than making a request of a sort.

"Lacrosse isn't doing enough for me. The work-outs aren't, especially not in the summer. I'm- I, well." Stiles sighed, dropping into one of the hardback chairs and looking up at the wolf. "I want to be faster. Stronger. I- I know I'm not going to ever be as much as you guys are, but I want to be able to defend myself better. Maybe just... Be able to run from an injured creature, at least."

Derek held his silence for a long time, staring at the top of Stiles' bowed head. He pulled a chair around in front of the boy and cleared his throat until Stiles looked up at him. "I can make you faster. And stronger. But like you said, you're not going to be fast enough to outrun most creatures. You..." He took a deep breath, hesitating for fear of offending Stiles. "You won't be strong enough to fight off a Nogitsune."

Stiles glared, eyes challenging the wolf the way Derek's words challenged him. "I'm not stupid, Derek. I'm not trying to be supernatural. I'm just trying to be... Better."

"Okay. Then meet me in the Preserve at 7." Derek nodded once, then stood up and walked back out, only for Stiles to call after him,

"AM?!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One hour until midnight! Let's applaud me for actually getting this out on time!

Derek had insulted everything possible about Stiles' workout regime. He started by saying that twice a week wasn't nearly enough for summer practices, that when he was in basketball, they went four days, five if the coach was mad. Then he rolled his eyes when Stiles said Finstock hadn't upped his max on bench press since the Fall, hit his arm and said, "That explains it."

"What about outside of practice? Do you do anything on your off days?" Derek asked incredulously, one bushy eyebrow raised to his hairline.

But, as always, Stiles was the perfect match to challenge him back. "You mean besides all of the wild beasts I help you hunt? Yeah, my weekends are a little busy."

"Fair point. Pop quiz, how-" Derek was cut off by Stiles making an inhuman noise with his throat and rolling his eyes back into his head. When he stopped to take a breath, Derek asked, "Are you done?"

"Not yet." The younger boy snipped, making the noise again for a few seconds longer, just to annoy him, before stopping, and turning his hand a few times to wave the wolf on.

He rolled his green eyes harder than Stiles had, almost as if it were a competition of being obnoxious. "How many days does it take to get out of shape?"

"Okay, every coach says that it's two, but that's a lie, and we all know it."

"You're right."

"No, it-" Stiles stopped, eyebrows furrowing. He had expected an argument. "I'm what?"

Derek sighed, crossing his arms. "You're right."

"Oh, what sweet words." Stiles clapped a hand over his heart dramatically. "Say them again."

"You're r-" Derek paused, mouth open and enjoying watching Stiles hang on edge, "-idiculous." He finished with a condescending smirk, ignoring the way the human huffed so that he could continue his lesson. "You can go more than two days without getting out of shape. But, you should be working out as often as you work. In other words; if you practice lacrosse, or play, or fight 'wild beasts' every day of the week, then you should be striving to work out that much, so you're used to the burden."

And well, that actually made sense. Everything Derek said that day made sense, and it made Stiles much more willing to put in the work he never did on his own. The longer he stayed in the preserve with Derek, the more he thought that this arrangement was a good idea.

 

* * *

 

"This is the worst idea I've ever had." Stiles groaned as he threw himself onto his bed that night.

"Game night? Well, you've been practicing a bad idea for like, 6 years now." Scott chuckled, throwing open one of the pizza boxes and grabbing a slice of meat lover's.

"No." Stiles waved his hand, groaning again at the burn in his bicep. "I was with Derek this morning and," a whine as he pushed himself into a sitting position. "I'm so sore."

"Gross." The Alpha said with a mouthful of cheese. He'd known about his friend's crush on the older wolf for almost as long as Stiles had had one, but he really thought Derek was more of the 'wine 'em and dine 'em' type, at least once first. "I mean, I'm happy for you, but-"

"No, Scott, we were working out-"

"Yeah, I know, it burns tons of calories. Still don't want details."

"No, Scott, we were _actually_ working out." Stiles explained, rolling his eyes. "Get your head out of the gutter. It was like, the least sexy thing to ever happen in the preserve, trust me."

The wolf look skeptical, "I mean, I think the murders were a little less sexy than that, but, personal opinion." He shrugged, Stiles continuing regardless.

"And besides, he doesn't like me like that."

"He does. Have you ever seen how he looks at you?"

Stiles looked at his friend with a frown. "Today, he told me to run until I thought I'd die, and then run another half a mile."

Scott jumped to his defense. "You did ask him to make you faster."

"Yeah. And that's all this is." Stiles insisted, making grabby-hands for the pizza box until his friend handed it over. "He's helping me get in better shape. It's the opposite of romantic, so don't get my hopes up." He muttered, pulling a pepperoni from his slice and munching it more viciously than required.

Scott held up a hand in forfeit. "Whatever you say." He shrugged, sitting down without another word. But that didn't mean he didn't plan on giving Derek the 'best friend talk' if he kept looking at Stiles that way.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always appreciated! I am going to try and update every Sunday, but it's going to be a week by week thing, so thanks in advance for your patience! Thanks as always to my amazing beta, [Jenna](http://rycnhaywood.tumblr.com). Thank you all so much for reading! (Psst, I have a [tumblr](http://taste-of-broken-trust.tumblr.com).)


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